PBS Vetoed Sequel for Cost, Not Content

Published: April 28, 1994

To the Editor:

Frank Rich spins a conspiracy theory about the Public Broadcasting Service's decision not to finance a sequel to Armistead Maupin's "Tales of the City" ("The Plot Thickens at PBS," column, April 17). Like many conspiratorial speculations, his is entertaining but off the mark.

PBS's contribution to the original "Tales of the City" was roughly $150,000. The price tag for the proposed sequel was more than 10 times that amount, about $2 million. Sequels often fail to match the quality of the original, and open any programmer to the danger of formulaic repetition.

Would a sequel be of sufficient quality to make the game worth the multimillion-dollar candle? And should PBS commit the bulk of its remaining budget for "American Playhouse" to a single production? Answering such questions may be an uncertain science, and our decision may be open to questions about our wisdom. But to conclude that we are resorting to "censorship" is quite a leap, and that in the wrong direction.

Mr. Rich also paints with the broad brush of caricature when he mentions me personally, so I must correct the record. I was indeed a Bush appointee to the Federal Communications Commission, but as a Democrat. For many more years, I served in Democratic administrations. The F.C.C. is an independent regulatory agency, and I was an independent sort while there, described by your own newspaper as "a devout Democrat."

As to "decent family values," a study of my confirmation testimony would reveal that Senator Daniel K. Inouye asked me a question using that phrase, which led to my reply: I abjured censorship and said that I considered fidelity to First Amendment freedom to be part of my "blood and bone and fiber."

Mr. Rich also commits the sin of guilt by association when he mentions support for my nomination to the F.C.C. by the National Association of Evangelicals. I am not a member of any evangelical denomination. But I am proud to have worked with evangelicals, Catholics and others in support of freedom of thought and conscience, specifically for the release of prisoners of conscience like the Russian poet Irina Ratushinskaya.

Those who know my career and my statements over the years know that I am committed to the free exchange of ideas. PBS under my leadership will continue to make programming decisions without bowing to pressure from dreary, coercive nags on either the left or the right.

When you decline to publish an article submitted for your Op-Ed page, you are not engaging in censorship; you are making a business and editorial decision. Disappointed authors need to understand that before resorting to accusations of "censorship." So, apparently, does Mr. Rich. ERVIN S. DUGGAN President and Chief Exec. Officer Public Broadcasting Service Alexandria, Va., April 20, 1994